So many thoughts raced through my mind on the short walk back to the cave. And the worst one of all was that flitting, narrow lift of hope that maybe, with Chiro on our side at least temporarily, maybe we could do this. I didn't want to stop to even consider the thought that we all might manage to escape with our lives (or afterlives, as the hellish case may be) because I knew that wouldn't happen. A sense of betrayal and the undercurrent of suspicion that settled over me was more a relief than a burden. It kept me in the moment, kept me from spending too long looking at those sullen, dirty faces and wondering which of us was next.

Just outside the shadowed cave I made my formal introduction at last.

A single night had given me more mouths than I knew how to feed or protect. I was nervous just saying good morning. Luckily, most of them seemed somewhat self-sufficient and willing to tolerate me. Chiro's band had had a bit of an easier go than Dakota, Dot, Val and the unfortunate few in my party. Speaking of Dot, she was still having a time of it with Chiro around. The woman dug her dirty toenails into the bare ground and refused to come out of the cave. She stayed there beside the ashes of the dead fire, until she'd calmed herself from sobs to weak sniffles. I felt bad about keep her so near him, but he was here and I'd rather she get some exposure to him now than to be surprised further down the trail when things got more dangerous.

A young woman named Bree was quick to announce her preference for the wall of grumpy muscle stationed to my right. Glancing over my shoulder at the grey-eyed demon, I couldn't help but agree with her. He gave a non-committal shrug and helped Dakota off the horse. So I squared up my shoulders, took a calm breath and politely told Bree that  I didn't care who she'd rather be with; the name of the game was survival, and to do that she'd have to listen to myself, Chiro, and Dakota.

"Her, too?" The girl asking, rubbing welcome sunshine on her dark skin. Her eyes followed Dakota's hand on Chiro's shoulder as she dismounted. "She's one of us."

Val hopped from her latest perch with a soft thump. Dusting her hands of bark, she moved over to Bree and said, "Y'all ain't seen how she puts herself on the line."

Bree brushed curls from her face. "She's still human. If you two go down she can't win."

Before the blonde could muster her own comeback, which probably included more colorful language, I interceded, pacing almost restless around the group of women until I could circle back beside Chiro and Dakota. "Look," I began, gathering my thoughts through the receding headache. "I don't care what she is or who she was before the Hunt. I care about what she's done since. She's stuck her neck out and proven she can hang with the likes of Chiro."

With an exaggerated sigh, Bree, a college student who'd been hiking in Utah when she'd been taken, switched her attention from my designated deputy onto me. "And what's so special about you, your Ladyship? What can you do that he can't?" She nodded to Chiro, who really couldn't have looked more disinterested if he tried.

Nervousness fluttered against my stomach as I looked from Bree to other expectant faces. My hand found Shail's chin as he sunned himself beside me. Somehow petting him calmed me just enough.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," I said curtly. From the look in my eye she must've known I meant it, or figured it wasn't worth pushing further. And I really did mean what I'd said; if our lives depended on my frosty abilities, we were screwed.

Bree rested her elbows on her knees as she leaned forward. "Why's he helping you?"

"Because he has plans after the Hunt," I explained, trying to project a confident tone to suggest I knew (and approved) of said plans. "And if you want to have plans, too, you'll show respect where it's due. Dakota earned her right to lead. Until you've done the same, I'll kindly ask that you each do your jobs and do them well. Help each other. Listen to each other. Whether you like who's sitting next to you or not, we're in this together. And together is how we get out."

From that point on I was done fielding questions. We had to move. Neither time nor daylight was on our side. I split the groups up, making sure to mix the ladies from my group with Chiro's in an attempt to keep things from resembling too much the high school cliques I'd been so excited to leave behind. Whatever white remained on the varied wedding gowns was covered up now as we made use of mud and dirt and leaves to freshly camouflage ourselves going forward.

As we navigated gargantuan roots and massive trunks that stretched towards the peaked sun, Dakota led us all through the humid afternoon.  We moved slowly, in groups of three and four, spanned out across the forest floor to keep from parading about the winding trails like a long, grungy caterpillar. Chiro and I brought up the rear. Surrounded by the peaceful chirps of lizards and birds, I allowed myself the chance to consider my fate had the snowstorm not cancelled my flight. Would I be kicking it in a new apartment working on creature concept designs over a glass of wine, or would the riders of the Wild Hunt have coursed me down through Central Park?

And if they hadn't, I realized, all these other people would still be here, and I'd have gone on oblivious, sketching out my demons and minotaurs and harpies and spiders thinking these kinds of horrors are reserved for imagination. A part of me wished I could return to that blissful ignorance, and yet, if I were being honest, a part of me had always believed there was more to the world.

And in my youthful fantasies I viewed those thoughts through a romantic lens. Not that it was all romance in the strictest sense of the world; I just saw things in that rosy artist's light, even the horror, in a, 'Wow! Incredible!' kind of way.

Not anymore.

I slapped a large mosquito against my neck, grimaced at the bloody remains, and wiped my hand on my pants. This was not the sort of otherworldly experience a daydreamer like me had hoped for when I'd pick up my pencil and sketch a world different from what I had.

My hand brushed my waist and the knife settled there. To make up for the one he'd thrown in the flames, Chiro had given me his hunting knife. We'd put some range between the two of us to better survey the landscape as the women moved through it, but the further we walked the more I realized that he'd gradually cut that distance, until horse and rider were close enough to talk.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Sweat rolled off my furrowed brow. Rather than wipe it, I touched the knife's grip.

Chiro's stallion picked a steady, even path through the undergrowth as his owner twisted in the saddle slightly. "I don't like babysitting," he said, easing out of his shirt. Behind him, his sword sat neatly packed. Was he going to shift?

"Too bad," I said, returning a few wary feet of distance between us. "Go back to watching your side."

"Gabe will hear anything before we can," he said with a dismissive wave.

I peered around the horse's rump, but the wolf was no where to be seen. Instead I heard dogged footfalls trotting gaily through the brush. Somewhere behind us, much more quietly, roamed Shail. My main fear with the crag cat was that he might get too close to the semi-disguised girls and start stalking them.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

Chiro slowed his pace a half step until I was near the front of the horse. "I wanted to talk to you alone."

"I would've appreciated you talking earlier," I said. "A word from you would go along way with Bree. I'm sure she's not the only one thinking, rightfully so, that maybe you're the better choice here."

"You needed to be the one," he said and jumped off his horse. "You did fine." He didn't smile, but from his tone I guessed he was trying to convince me.

"Didn't feel fine," I continued, scanning the trees for any sign of danger. It was either that, or scan his muscles and pick my favorite, which I really didn't want to do after having blurted out the horrribleness that I had. Despite the toxins in my system having worn off, I still felt rather acutely conscious of his body next to mine. And that only made me feel more embarrassed even though I knew I shouldn't be.  "I'm just hoping we keep it together long enough to cross the finish line. So say what you've gotta say and get back to your post. I've got a million questions buzzing around my aching head, I'm drowning in sweat and I'm not really in the mood for chitchat."

From his posture and the relaxed way he gripped the horse's reins, he clearly wasn't going to return to his post no matter what I said, but he did clear his throat, apologize for interrupting my thoughts, and get to the point.

"Where'd you pick up that girl, the one gone missing?"

"Found Leda in the harpy's roost with Val and Dot."

"Once you entered the nest, how'd you find the harpy?"

"Asleep," I said, and paused in my arboreal perusal to meet his cool eyes. "Leda said she and Dot were trapped almost from the start of the Hunt. Why would she just let herself be tortured like that? And the Harpy was feeling well enough to hurt Dakota before I arrived. Val didn't mention him looking sick, either. He can't have been poisoned."

Chiro lifted one shoulder and nodded off at the distant rustles through the forest. "Maybe you should talk with your friends."

"Or you can tell me about the Lords' side of the Hunt," I said slowly. "Apart from killing us, how much do you interact with us before dumping us in the wilderness?" The obvious first step seemed to be determining whether or not Leda was a human or something else—knowing what kind of interaction she might've had with the Lords might help me figure out the severity of the threat that remained sleeping next to me at night.

"I didn't."

"Did you see Leda killed before the Hunt?"

"Gabe and I were tracking you. I wasn't in attendance for Leda. Your death got a big turnout because of what you were; most are taken by a hound or his handler."

I frowned. "Did you see her with the other brides back at the palace?"

"Wasn't interested in watching the procession as they left for the forest."

"And before they left?"

He gave me a blank look. "Why would I be interested in watching those sorry little creatures shuffle about their prison?"

Talk to my friends it was then. Maybe I could work out something with Val and ask her to chat with the others about what went on before the Hunt, to see if there were any other dangers left remaining. Still, I did feel a bit better knowing we were just days away from safety. And between knowing to look out for myself and having Chiro around, I felt marginally more confident that this was a one-time danger.

"What was I poisoned with?" I finally asked. "I kind of thought you guys, err, us, could heal from almost anything."

"Some ailments progress quicker than others, especially depending on the damage and dose. And you don't know if she was trying to kill you."

"What else would she be doing?" He didn't bother answering that; I knew it as soon as it left my mouth. If she was human, then she potentially had a partner more interested in my ovaries than my outright death. Or, in the case of Akta, a long, extended death was probably best for me. "Well, what kind of poison was it?"

"Marl," he said shortly.

I chewed my lip. "The thing that beautiful pelt came from?"

"It isn't completely covered in fur." Chiro walked along beside me, with the horse trailing a pace or two behind. Gabe trotted somewhere to our left and Shail was a club-tailed enigma lurking somewhere unknown. And then a hand I was very aware of reached up and touched my elbow.

I stopped instantly.

"You're smarter than the last Lady," he said, dropping his touch the moment I stiffened. "She was fiery, but she tried to do everything on her own. You ask for help. Well, demand it. That might be the difference between her dying and you living."

"What do you know about her?" I asked, rubbing my arm like I had an itch. "The Walrus never told me much. Shouldn't I know more, so as not to repeat history?"

"You won't," he said. "You haven't so far."

"Comforting," I agreed, rolling my eyes. "How can you be sure, if you weren't in the Hunt? How old are you, anyway?"

"Too old for you," he said.

"That's not what I meant!" I said quickly, gesturing at him. "I just wanted to know your age. I'm curious to know what the expiration date is on all this muscle before that stomach starts sporting the Walrus look. Does being half demon mean I get to dip my toe in the fountain of youth, too?"

Shaking his head, Chiro passed me the reins. His hands moved to his waist. "I tire of your questions, Tay Wilson. I will see you this evening."

The second I realized what he was doing I whirled around and pretended to check the bushes and thick tree branches for Shail. "So you're what, leaving?"

"Going on ahead," he grunted.

"You best go on far to one side," I said, keenly observing the trees. "I don't need a hulking wildcat racing up the middle and having everyone think you've abandoned us or are headed to a fight. I can't deal with more nonsense today. I just want to get somewhere safe and call it a night."

Leaves slid across the ground. A massive, tawny paw stretched through the space beside me. Filtered sunlight darkened to true shadow. Above me, the cat's throat rumbled something not quite a purr. His cheek and saber fang bumped gently against the very mellow horse's head and then Chiro turned and bounded in great, crashing leaps across the forest. Straight through everyone. As I watched, several groups of leaves flinched and twitched.

"Ass," I grumbled. The stallion's ears flicked forward. I stroked his neck. "Not you, buddy.  Your owner."

*

The incoming night had leeched the sunlight into little more than a pale, malevolent glow across the lowest boughs when the complaints about sore feet, hunger, and being tired reached a crescendo. Val scouted a smaller cave for us to rest in; it wasn't so much a cave as an outcropping, and half of us had to be stowed nearby in some hollowed, dead tree's roots with the spiders and crawling things. I volunteered for the roots, set Bree and Dot up in the cozier space with women from both parties and put Val with her after a brief disclosure about what'd happened to me the other night.

One of the girls had gone into the woods to pee; she came back a short while later nervous as a hare and talking about hearing a loud thump nearby.

In the remaining light, Dakota and I set out to find the source.

It wasn't long after that when we stumbled upon a tangy, faintly-perfumed odor. Huge claw marks ripped open the soil all the way to a low, flat root upon which had been draped the huge body of what appeared to be a variety of sylvan elk. For all the scent of death, the animal carried a softer, more pleasant smell.

"It a trap?" Dakota whispered.

My head shook. I stepped closer to peer first at the tracks, then at the slain mammal. "Gift from Chiro."

"How catty of him." The woman's dainty nose wrinkled. "My mom's tom always brought us shrews and mice. Never ate them,  just left their furry little corpses around the house like decorative baubles. Played with them more than any toy we bought him."

"Gross."

"This isn't much better."

Prone across tangled ivy and ruddy roots was the tan fur and soft, almost-feathered haunches of an enormous, four-eared bull. Flowers sprouted from its rack of mossy antlers. Blood continued to seep from an open neck wound. The petals withered and fell at the lightest touch.

"Poor thing," Dakota said, nudging one golden hoof. "Of the million things that want to kill us in this forest, your Prince couldn't have found something meaner to kill?"

Checking that it was truly dead, I pulled out the hunting knife and considered the unpleasant task of prepping dinner. For a second I leaned back to look at the beautiful creature, and I thought about this elk and the stag that awaited us somewhere between ancient forest and the iron castle gates. 

I decided against reminding Dakota about Akta. That part of the message, I thought, was personal, a promise of what was to come.  What I hoped would come. "He's just trying to be useful," I said to the woman hovering at my shoulder. "It's called being nice."

"Or showing off his blood lust." Dakota flicked a shrunken bud from the creature's antlers. "Useful would be bringing this to camp, not twenty yards outside it."

"Maybe he didn't want Dot to scream."

"Yeah, sure." She sighed. "Want me to grab a few of the girls and we drag this carcass closer?"

I nodded. "Get a fire going, if it seems safe. You know, if you allow yourself to humanize him, you might start to like Chiro," I said. "He's different."

"Different don't mean better," she said. "And if he's lying about Leda—"

"He's not."

"—If he is, what are you gonna do? It's dangerous, opening up a little space inside your heart for what you know hardly anything about. It can cripple you."

Whether I admitted it or not, it was a good question. I already knew without a doubt that he was keeping things from me. I just wasn't sure what details they were, why he wouldn't tell me, or what I planned on doing about it. As Dakota sauntered off I caressed one of the bull's velveteen ears. What Chiro knew didn't matter if we never saw the inside of the castle.

"Maybe it's worth it," I said when the woman was out of earshot. And then Shail's luminous eyes flashed through the gloom. I spent about half an hour waving and shooing the cat away from the kill until we could section off what we wanted to eat.

Maybe it's worth it, I thought, smiling at Dakota from afar. Or maybe she was right. Maybe you cripple him first.

As I announced the other day on my profile (which is why you should follow me if you don't), we're on a new schedule for posting! :)